


the dew is never all dried at once

by ohdeariemegoodness



Category: Naruto
Genre: Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, M/M, Voyeurism, Warning: Sasuke, except the kidnapping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-14
Updated: 2018-01-14
Packaged: 2019-03-04 14:06:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13366290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohdeariemegoodness/pseuds/ohdeariemegoodness
Summary: Somehow, Kakashi gets his happy ending.  He also gets kidnapped.Fortunately, Kakashi makes a great damsel in distress.





	the dew is never all dried at once

“This grand show is eternal.  It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never all dried at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor is ever rising.  Eternal sunrise, eternal sunset, eternal dawn and gloaming, on seas and continents and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls.”

-John Muir, _John of the Mountains_

* * *

 

Kakashi’s hair is sopping wet and dripping straight down his face.  It’s unbelievably itchy, and his hands are chained completely out of reach.  He’s also incredibly thirsty, though, so it’s a blessing in disguise.  If he tilts his head just right, he can catch the drops of water before they make it past his chin.  It’s difficult but not impossible with a swollen tongue.  Kakashi’s pretty sure he’s had at least one challenge with Gai that’s prepared him for this moment. 

He can hear noises from outside his cell—footsteps, doors slamming.  Not a good sign.  Kakashi closes his eyes, breathes in as deeply as he can without coughing, and tries to think about his favorite scene from _Icha Icha Paradise_ , but it’s just not coming.  He’s thirsty and dizzy and has at least two broken ribs, and what’s left of his clothing is soaked through with piss and blood and sweat.  Kakashi hasn’t been very impressed with the hospitality around here, especially since he’s pretty sure this is a ROOT operation.  They could do better.  At the very least they could find him a cell that wasn’t literally a cave with a door.   

The cell door opens with a high screech, but something metallic hits the ground, and he hears muffled swearing.  Whoever it is walks away without closing the door.  If Kakashi was stronger, still at the top of his game, he could get out, maybe, take his interrogator by surprise.  But his chakra is sealed, and he’s injured and exhausted.  He’s not sure how long it’s been—at least a month.  Mostly he’s kept track of time by how often someone comes in to beat the shit out of him and try to Yamanaka their way into his mind.  It’s kind of nostalgic, almost.  Reminds him of his ANBU days. 

He hears footsteps coming closer again, so Kakashi relaxes his expression, slumps as casually as he can with his hands chained to the wall.  He’s pretty much given up on escaping, and is sticking with being as insolent and unbearable as he can.  Maybe one of his interrogators will get angry, make a mistake and go too far.  Not the greatest option—if Gai were here, he’d have a motivational speech prepared about Never Giving Up—but shinobi work with what they have, and Kakashi is reaching his limits.  He still hasn’t figured out exactly what they want from him, but whatever it is, he can’t let them have it.   

It’s Bat, this time; he’s changed his mask and is currently Mole, but Kakashi recognizes the hair.  He’s holding a syringe.  Drugs again, then.  

“Maa, Bat, you never bring me anything nice,” he complains. 

“Shut up,” Bat growls, impatient as always, and he shoves Kakashi against the wall, forcing out a gasp.      

Kakashi’s bare back is pressed against cold, wet stone, and he can’t stop the shudder that tears through his body.  He pants through the sharp, unrelenting pain of Bat’s arm pressing against broken ribs, and does his best to keep from coughing.  It doesn’t work, though, and every cough sends jagged bolts of pain up his spine, whiting everything out for a moment before the world comes back in sharp relief.

Bat already has the syringe in his arm, and Kakashi can only hang there and wait for it to be over.  He’s not sure what they’re after, exactly.  They’ve been keeping their questions vague, probably to keep Kakashi from knowing what to prioritize when trying to keep them out of his head.  It has to be something only Kakashi knows, though, otherwise they wouldn’t have been desperate enough for such a high-profile abduction.     

Bat jabs his fingers into the deep bruising on Kakashi’s side, and Kakashi lets out a strangled sound.

“That’s really getting old,” Kakashi tells him, once he’s gotten his breath back.  “You need to work on your technique, I think.  Mix it up a little.” 

He can feel the drugs starting to rush his system.  He’s not sure what exactly they’ve been giving him.  It’s some sort of interrogation drug, clearly, but there’s no telling which one.  Whatever it is, it leaves Kakashi limp and disoriented, although it does help with the coughing.  He doesn’t waste energy fighting it.  As long as he can keep his mouth shut and his mind closed, it doesn’t matter what happens. 

Someone comes busting into the cell.  He hasn’t seen them before, but they have purple hair and some sort of bug mask.  

Bat looks up, startled.  “Grasshopper.  You’re not authorized for prisoner contact.”

“We’re evacuating,” Grasshopper says.  “Level nine.”

“What?  Fuck.  I better—”

Bat cuts off as a huge, purple, ghostly arm comes crashing through the walls of Kakashi’s cell.  Kakashi sits back and enjoys the light show as Sasuke runs through Bat and Grasshopper in quick succession. 

Kakashi gives him a little wave when he’s done.  “Yo.”

Sasuke scowls.  “What the fuck, Kakashi.” 

He looks Kakashi up and down, and his scowl deepens before his hands light up and Kakashi’s shackles are gone, leaving Kakashi slumped on the ground.  It’s just as cold and wet as the wall, and he may or may not be laying in his own piss.  It’s not a good day for Kakashi’s dignity. 

Sasuke throws his cloak over Kakashi, who is shivering uncontrollably.  Something in Kakashi is deeply ashamed to be seen this way—mostly naked, bruised and shaking and helpless in enemy hands.  He doesn’t even have his mask. 

The rest of him is filled with dull surprise.  He hadn’t really bothered to hope for rescue after the first week or so.  He certainly hadn’t expected Sasuke to come for him.       

“Can you stand?”

Kakashi shakes his head, or at least tries to.  Sasuke purses his lips a little, and for a moment, he looks just like his mother.  Kakashi ends up thrown over his shoulder, and is fervently grateful that the drugs keep the pain down to a low roar.

Sasuke takes off, rushing past masked corpses left lying haphazardly on the ground.  Everything is on fire, despite the stone walls and laboratory style rooms.  Kakashi wouldn’t think there was much here to burn, but it is Sasuke, after all.           

When they get to the surface, Sasuke pauses for a moment to readjust Kakashi’s weight while Kakashi attempts to adjust at all.  He breathes as deeply as he can manage, trying to get a taste of the open air, his eyes scrunched shut against the sunlight.  He feels like he could lay here on Sasuke and just breathe clean air forever.  His chakra is still sealed, but this is enough.

“Drugged,” he gets out. 

Sasuke gets his cloak tucked more firmly around Kakashi before taking off again.  “I know.  I saw the syringe.” 

Kakashi tries to stay relaxed and focus on breathing, but the air is cold and his chest hurts.  He finds himself struggling for air again. It’s been—he was in that cell for a long time.  At least a month.  And Kakashi isn’t young anymore, hasn’t been young in a long time, really.  It’s hard to just bounce back.  He almost wishes that Gai had rescued him, and not Sasuke.  He wants to lay down in his bed with his ninken and his trashy romance novels and sleep for a million years. Gai would understand.  He’d probably challenge him to a napping competition right here and now. 

Sasuke speeds up, and Kakashi can’t keep his head from bouncing against Sasuke’s back.  He flops around a little, trying to get a grip on something, but it’s mostly a useless effort.  Kakashi gives up, trying to ignore the slow burn of shame.  He tries to regulate his breathing, at least, but it feels like he can’t get any air, or maybe like he can’t keep it in his lungs long enough.   

When Kakashi was first promoted to chuunin, not yet paired with a team, he’d spent a lot of time attached to the kind of missions that needed a shinobi as young as he was, undercover mostly in trafficking rings of one kind or another.  He’d been kept in a cage on one, left there for nearly three weeks to watch and report while his team tied up loose ends.  Kakashi could have escaped at any time, could have let out the other children, at least—but it would have broken his cover. 

When the mission was over, Kakashi thought that was the end of it.  But he remembers watching the civilians being rescued—how so many of them had to be dragged out of the cages, how they’d crushed themselves against the bars, fighting to stay inside. 

After that mission, Kakashi had been placed with Sensei, given a team.  At the time, it felt like a demotion of the worst sort.  But it was a kindness.  Not all shinobi had the temperament for those sorts of missions.  At six, no shinobi should.    

Sasuke stops, but the world keeps moving, and Kakashi vomits all down his back.  He’s surprised there was anything in him to throw up.  His stomach must’ve been saving it for a special occasion.

He can’t really get it all out, and he ends up laid out in the dirt with Sasuke’s concerned face hovering over his.  Sasuke’s concerned face looks almost exactly like a glare, but Kakashi can tell.  Sasuke flips Kakashi onto his side, uses two fingers to scoop the rest of the gunk out of Kakashi’s airway, and lets Kakashi crush his hand during the resulting coughing fit.  

Everything is too bright, but Kakashi’s vision is still blurry.   Kakashi’s face—his face is wet.  _Obito’s eye_ , he thinks, automatically, but it isn’t Obito, not anymore.  Kakashi has two of his own eyes now. 

“You need a medic,” Sasuke mutters.  “Where the fuck is Karin.”

Almost as soon as he says it, a girl with bright red hair that Kakashi vaguely recognizes as one of Sasuke’s team of missing-nin comes stomping out of the undergrowth. 

“Sasuke!”

“Here,” Sasuke says, shoving Kakashi towards her.  “He just threw up on me.”

Kakashi tries to give her a winning grin, but even he can tell it’s a bit of a flop.  He allows himself a moment of profound longing for his mask, or even a bit of genjustu.  Everything’s just a little bit easier, with the mask.  He tries to cover his face with his hand, but he can’t quite get it to move in the right direction.  The girl says something, but Kakashi doesn’t catch it, too distracted by his disobedient hand.

“He just wants his mask,” Sasuke says, and a large palm comes to rest over the lower half of Kakashi’s face.  His cute little students have all gotten so big.

Green chakra lights up over Kakashi’s chest, and the ground suddenly feels a lot softer.  His ribs have been broken for so long now that he’d almost forgotten they were ever in one piece, and the absence of pain there is almost too much to handle.  Someone makes a noise, long and low and wordless.  It might have been Kakashi, but it’s hard to tell.

“Okay, I patched up his ribs, took some pressure off his lungs.  Everything else can wait,” Karin says, “although you really shouldn’t have thrown him around so much.  He’ll make it to Konoha, but he needs a hospital, because I’m not letting him bite me.”    

He hasn’t been awake for long—an hour at most—but it’s been an eventful hour, what with the rescuing and the crying and the vomiting all over Sasuke.  Not to mention the drugs.  Kakashi probably deserves a break, and he could really use a nap right now.   

Sasuke’s hand is warm over his face, and Kakashi leans into it, closing his eyes.

Karin pats his head.  “It’s crazy how I feel bad for this jerk,” she says.  

“Yeah,” Sasuke says, picking Kakashi back up, this time in a much more comfortable—if significantly more embarrassing—bridal-style hold.  Kakashi may or may not make an equally embarrassing noise at being moved around, but he isn’t admitting to anything.

“See you later, Sasuke,” Karin is saying, and they’re moving again.

 

Kakashi wakes up in the hospital.  He never thought he’d be so happy to wake up here, but then again, he also never thought he’d spend a month in captivity after being kidnapped by his own guards.  A little shameful, that.  At least he has a mask, now—just a surgical mask, and over the oxygen tubes stuck up his nose, but anything’s better than nothing.      

“He’s awake!” 

Kakashi flinches.  He’d recognize Naruto’s too-loud voice anywhere. 

Bright blue eyes and yellow hair take up Kakashi’s field of vision.  There are tear streaks down Naruto’s face, but he’s smiling, wide and sunny and glowing.

“Kaka-sensei, you’re awake!”  Naruto’s smile freezes, and his whole face seems to tremble.  His eyes well up. 

Kakashi tries to get out of the way, but he can’t really move, and Naruto isn’t having it.  He bursts into tears with a choked little gasp and throws himself on top of Kakashi’s only partially-healed ribs.

“Kaka-sensei, I knew you weren’t dead, I knew we were gonna find you, I said it this whole time, but I kept looking and looking and looking and you weren’t anywhere and I had to make a clone-you to keep in the hospital and that old hag had to come back and be Hokage again and I couldn’t—I couldn’t—” he cuts off with a sniffle, and wipes his gross snot all over Kakashi’s sheets. 

Tentatively, Kakashi brings a hand up to pat Naruto’s head as Sakura comes bursting in, Tsunade close behind her.  Sakura is crying, too, but she’s gentler about it, coming up to sit beside Naruto and hold Kakashi’s unoccupied hand in hers. 

“Sensei,” she says, her voice thick.  “I’m glad you’re awake.”

Sakura, his little lady—but not so little, anymore.  Kakashi doesn’t know when it happened. 

She notices Naruto, then, and her sweet face crumples into a scowl.  “Naruto, what are you doing?  Kakashi-sensei has broken ribs, you idiot!”

Kakashi’s once-peaceful hospital room devolves from there, and Kakashi can’t stop from laughing, even though it hurts.  Tsunade ignores the chaos around her and starts running diagnostics. 

“Good to see you awake, brat,” she tells him. 

“How long,” and he has to stop and cough.  He tries again.  “How long was I out?”

“You’ve been unconscious for three days.”  She looks at him, and then answers his unvoiced question.  “You were missing for over six weeks.”

Six weeks.  A little longer than he thought, then.

“How…” he trails off, not sure how to word his next question.

“Naruto’s been keeping a clone henged as you in the hospital since you went missing.  Shikamaru’s idea, to pretend you were poisoned until we could find you.  Everyone else thinks you’ve been put in a medical coma while we searched for an antidote.  We haven’t been allowing visitors.”

“Thanks for…” he gestures at the Godaime’s robes, which she’s wearing again, despite telling him she’d burned them. 

“Hmph.  You’re getting the hat back as soon as you can sit up on your own, so don’t get too grateful.” 

Kakashi attempts an eye smile.  Naruto bounces back over, apparently drawn by Hokage talk. 

“I was gonna make my clone-you hang out and be Hokage, but Shikamaru said that the Council would figure it out, and that I would be too tired to do all that anyway when I was looking for you.  My Kakashi impression is really good though, see, see,” and two different Naruto’s sprout grey hair and start lounging around with open Icha Icha books. 

One of them raises a hand. “Yo.”

Kakashi is momentarily tormented with visions of Naruto-Kakashi running the village.  He thanks his lucky stars for Shikamaru.    

Sakura, looking completely unfazed, pops both Kakashi clones.

“Anyway, Sensei, you’re going to be fine.  Do you want the rundown?  I can make Naruto leave.”

Kakashi shakes his head.  “He can stay.” 

“Alright, well, we’ve already flushed the drugs out of your system.  You have pneumonia, which makes sense, since you were in a cave for six weeks, but we’ve started treatment and your breathing has already improved.  You’ll need physical therapy for your shoulders and to get you walking again after so long in one place.” 

Kakashi’s shoulders were dislocated over and over again, until Bat gave up on that tactic.  They still hurt, but he can move his arms now, at least.  He nods, and she keeps going, slipping into medic-nin mode. 

“You’re also being treated for malnutrition and dehydration.  Other than that, it’s mostly the broken ribs and superficial damage.  You’ll need an occupational eval before you get the all clear, but there’s nothing wrong with you that can’t be healed.  Mostly you just need rest.”  Sakura’s face darkens.  “Which means you better stay right here in this hospital bed until I say you can leave, you hear me, Sensei?”

Kakashi nods, eyes wide and hopefully sincere-looking, but he’s already making plans to break out as soon as he can stand up.  It would help if he wasn’t so tired.  It feels like chakra exhaustion, but Sakura didn’t mention that.   

“My chakra?”

“Still sealed.  It’s not safe to remove the seal yet, because seal removal puts a lot of strain on the body, especially when it’s been active for this long.  Sasuke says that he knows how to remove it, though, so we’ll see about that once we’ve seen a little more improvement.”            

Kakashi suddenly remembers how he ended up here in the first place. 

“Sasuke?”

Naruto and Sakura exchange looks, and Tsunade scowls in the background, where she’s been messing with the machines hooked up all around him.

“Sasuke rescued you, do you remember that?” Sakura asks carefully.

Kakashi nods.  He kind of wishes he didn’t.  Now that he isn’t drugged up to his eyeballs and only half-conscious with exhaustion and fever, the embarrassment comes rushing in—and the deep, unavoidable anxiety at having been seen without his mask. 

“Well, we don’t really know what’s going on with Sasuke,” Sakura starts.  “We sent him a message when you disappeared, but obviously we couldn’t just tell him what was really happening when we didn’t know who was involved or who might intercept the scroll.”

“So anyway,” Naruto cuts in, “the bastard showed up out of nowhere two weeks ago—you know how he does—and I was gone, because we had a lead that maybe you were in Kumo.  So Sakura got him to help, but he just whammied our ROOT guy and took off, so no one even knew he was going after you!”

“We knew who took you,” Sakura explains.  “We realized it not long after you went missing, but it took us a while to capture a ROOT agent, and then we couldn’t figure out how to get past his silencing seal.  It’s different than the one that was on Sai and the others, and you’re our seal expert, Sensei.  So when Sasuke showed up I asked him if he would take look, and he interrogated him with the Sharingan, I guess.  But he, um, didn’t tell us anything and just kind of left after that.”

Naruto jumps in. “And then he showed up here with you, right after I got back!  And now he’s brooding in my apartment.  He wouldn’t come visit, but obviously he’s worried about you, otherwise he’d just leave.”

Tsunade sniffs and crosses her arms.  “Dealing with Sasuke is like trying to have a conversation with a caveman.  He dumped you on my desk and said, ‘Drugged,’ and then he just took off.  I don’t know why you like him so much.”

Naruto starts laughing.  “And then he came and wanted his cloak back!  It was really funny, Kaka-sensei.  Although I’m glad Sasuke let you use his cloak if you were cold.”

Kakashi is starting to have trouble keeping his eyes open, but he still has questions. 

“Did he say…where?”

Naruto nods.  “Yeah, you were in one of Orochimaru’s old abandoned bases.  You were pretty much in a cave I guess, but you were in Fire the whole time and we couldn’t even find you.”

Naruto’s lip starts to tremble, and he looks like he’s going to cry again.  Sakura hurries to comfort him, and Kakashi looks away.

Tsunade puts her hands on her hips.  “Alright, that’s enough.  You two get out of here, and Sakura, you get some sleep, because you’re Kakashi’s attending in the morning.”  She turns to Kakashi.  “You get some rest, too.  You have guards stationed outside—Captain Yamato and Sai are both on your protection detail—and Shizune will be here all night, so press the call button if you need her, okay?”

Kakashi wants to ask for Gai, but he already knows that’s impossible.  Gai’s on a three-month diplomatic mission to Suna, along with Lee.  Kakashi signed the orders himself, so he knows where Gai is and why he isn’t wheeling around Kakashi’s hospital room and yelling about youthful recovery times.  Still, it feels like he should be here. 

Something of it must show, even with the mask, because Tsunade’s face softens.  She lays a gentle hand across his forehead.  “It’s over,” she tells him.  “You’re home now, and you’re safe.  Now get some sleep.”

Her hand runs through his hair, once, twice, and Kakashi can’t help but obey.

                     

Kakashi is making his way through his third fruit cup of the day when Gai comes crashing into his hospital room, wheels squealing and jumpsuit gleaming.  Kakashi waggles his fingers in greeting and Gai immediately bursts into tears. 

“Rival!” he cries.  “Naruto has informed me of your terrible ordeal!”

He wheels closer, sobbing manfully, and somehow manages to cradle Kakashi’s head (at a very uncomfortable angle) without getting out of his wheelchair, although he does send paperwork flying everywhere.  Kakashi does his best not to choke on the cantaloupe in his mouth.

“Mmmph.”  Kakashi tries to escape, but Gai has probably been doing a thousand push-ups a day while Kakashi was hanging from his wrists in a cave for six weeks.  It’s a fairly unsuccessful attempt.  Gai just sobs harder, squashing Kakashi’s head almost directly into his armpit. 

“I will admit, Kakashi, I would not have expected such a heroic and daring rescue from your prodigal student.  It is so beautiful and touching to think that your time as his teacher left such a powerful imprint on his heart!”

Kakashi finally rescues his head and neck from Gai’s vice-like grip.  He’s not sure what kind of “powerful imprint” he left on Sasuke, but it can’t have helped much—he thinks of finding Naruto half-dead in the rain, and of lightning aimed at Sakura’s heart.

Gai gives up on crushing Kakashi’s head and crushes his hand instead.

“The flowering of youth is a precious and mysterious thing, Rival,” he says.   

Kakashi snorts, and knocks the rest of the paperwork off the bed.  True to her word, Tsunade threw the hat at him two days after he woke up.  It’s astonishing how much paperwork can build up in a couple of weeks.  Shikamaru keeps skulking in with more of it—he always looks vaguely guilty, but it hasn’t stopped him from dropping it off.   

It’s quiet, for a few moments, but Gai can never stay quiet for long. 

“Ah, Rival!” He starts digging around in the bag attached to his wheelchair.  “I have taken the liberty of going into your apartment and finding your beloved books, that you might be entertained as you boldly pursue good health once more!  From here in the hospital, where you must stay until Sakura releases you!  I have been informed that your stay here is of the utmost importance, Kakashi.”    

Gai pulls out three of Kakashi’s favorite, dog-eared _Icha Icha_ novels.   Kakashi has to look away for a moment.  There’s no reason to feel overwhelmed, but he can’t help it; he’s getting too old to be kidnapped and tortured and rescued, and then have to be the same at the end of it. 

“Maa, thanks, Gai,” Kakashi tells him.

Gai tears up again.  “So casual!  Kakashi, you’re still so cool and aloof, even after all this treachery and betrayal.” 

Kakashi nods.  “I am pretty cool, Gai.”

Gai wipes his eyes on his jumpsuit.  “As I well know.  Your cool aloofness is sometimes the bane of my very existence, Rival, but today I find myself grateful for your irrepressible spirit!”

Kakashi lobs a grape at him.  Gai catches it in his mouth and swallows it.

“It is good to see you well,” Gai says, grave.  “Six weeks is a long time to be missing.”

Kakashi gives him a wry smile, not that Gai can see it through his mask.  “I got snatched out of my apartment by my own guard,” he tells him.  “It was little pathetic.  Been a while since I was a damsel in distress.”

Gai releases Kakashi’s hand, lays his palm over Kakashi’s shoulder, instead.  Kakashi very carefully doesn’t flinch away. 

“Kakashi.”  Gai pauses, considering, and Kakashi braces himself for heartfelt advice.  “Your precocious student Sakura and I have spoken about this matter at length.  Perhaps the time has come to move into the Hokage’s residence at last.”

Kakashi isn’t willing to leave his home any more than Gai is.  He’ll submit to a 24/7 guard and a shielded bedroom when Gai quits dragging a wheelchair up and down four flights of stairs every day.  He doesn’t say that, though.

“Your Suna mission shouldn’t be done just yet,” Kakashi deflects. “Did they recall you when I got back?”

“Lee is well on his way to mastering the delicate art of diplomacy,” Gai says. “He is able to represent Konoha without my guidance.”

Kakashi had laughed long and hard after deciding to make the two of them state diplomats.  The Council had been appalled, but Kakashi likes to keep them on their toes. 

“Aren’t you worried he’ll replace you as Konoha’s number one diplomat?” Kakashi jokes.

“There’s no shame in letting today’s youth rise to their potential,” Gai says, seriously.  “You and I must continue to shepherd our precious students, but as they come into their youthful power, we must also allow them to flourish as shinobi.” 

Kakashi stares at the paperwork pile he’s made on the floor.  There’s a particularly crumpled paper on top, with a very interestingly shaped coffee stain. 

Gai’s hand is still on Kakashi’s shoulder.

“Although you and I are certainly still full of youthful vigor and determination, Kakashi, it is true that we are no longer at the height of our youthful power.”  

“You think Naruto is ready to take the hat?” Kakashi jokes.

“No, Kakashi.”  Gai leans in.  “I think Naruto is ready to pursue his passion of peace and justice with youthful enthusiasm!  And this is perhaps best accomplished in a different role.”

“If you say so, Gai.”

“I do say so!” Gai fist pumps.  “But Rival, I am speaking of other matters. The time has come to consider allowing your youthful and passionate bodyguards to bodyguard you to the full extent of their abilities!  And it is also time to consider living in the Hokage’s residence, a place of great honor and venerable history.  And incredible safety!”

Gai doesn’t get the chance to convince him, though, because Sakura and Naruto and Tsunade come bustling in, with Sasuke lurking in the doorway, half-hidden behind Naruto. 

“It’s time,” Tsunade announces.  “At this point, you’re just on bedrest, and it’s doing you more harm than good to keep your chakra locked up like this.  Sakura’s just going to take your vitals and confirm that you’re stable enough.  Gai, you’re going to have to wait outside until we’re done.” 

Gai beams at him. “What a glorious step forward, Rival!”  He dives in for one more bone-and-face-crushing hug.  “I will be waiting for you outside, of course.  I swear to you that by the time I have completed one-thousand one armed push-ups, you will have ferocious power pounding through your body once more!”

Gai wheels out of the room as quickly as he wheeled in, oblivious to the incredulous face Sasuke is giving him.  Naruto and Sakura exchange a look. 

“Well, come on then,” Kakashi drawls.  “Let’s get some ferocious power pounding through this body.”

Even Tsunade can’t keep a straight face after all that.  “Alright, enough,” she manages, after a moment.  “Let’s get to work.”

   

Sasuke slowly paints around the seal on Kakashi’s stomach.  The ink is wet and cold on his skin, and Kakashi has to be careful not to jerk away.  Movement could mean doing this again, and Kakashi isn’t certain how much more of this he can stand.

He can’t help but think of their roles reversed, of Sasuke under his hands, still so small and so angry, Orochimaru’s seal burning hot on his shoulder blade.  Kakashi had tried to contain it, but out of Konoha’s shinobi, only Minato could have possibly removed it.  Minato, though, could not have come, not for Kakashi, not for anyone. 

It hadn’t been enough.  For Sasuke, nothing Kakashi had done had been enough.  Still, Kakashi knows—there was more he could have done.  Sasuke never would have left, if only he’d been there.  If only he’d done more from the beginning, instead of trying not to get attached.

Sasuke sets the brush aside with a soft clatter, and picks up another.  He adds the next layer of his seal modification, which, Kakashi knows from experience, has to be done in a mixture of ink and blood.  This part takes a while, and Kakashi finds himself dozing off.  With his chakra constantly drained, it’s almost impossible to stay awake for more than an hour or two at a time. 

He wakes to the burn of Sasuke’s chakra being fed into the seal, and he clenches his teeth against the feeling.  His whole body lights up, first with the dark, purple-black of Sasuke’s chakra, and then, finally, with the sharp white glow of his own.  His chakra rushes back into him, and the rebound is almost unbearable.  A high, keening noise reaches Kakashi’s ears, and he realizes, faintly, that the sound is his own. 

Then, suddenly, it’s over, leaving Kakashi dizzy and lifeless on the hospital bed.  He takes a moment to assess his surroundings—Sasuke on the ground beside him, pushing Sakura and Naruto away, Tsunade already running green hands over his chakra points, Tenzou and Sai skulking around by the window.  And Gai, of course, already pushing through the door and demanding to see his Eternal Rival.

It occurs to Kakashi, then, that he hasn’t been alone in a long time, not really.  Even in ANBU, when Sensei and his father and his team were all gone, even then he had Gai, and his ninken, and eventually Tenzou.  And then he’d been given his team—even Sai had grown on him, later, always coming around to talk to Kakashi about ninjutsu and test out horrible jokes, each one worse than the last.  Kakashi has lost a lot of people, it’s true.  But not all of them.

 

That night, Kakashi sneaks out the window of his hospital room.  It’s practically tradition, after all, and Kakashi hasn’t gotten to make an escape attempt yet.  He can sense Tenzou following him, as well as a few other ANBU, but they don’t try to stop him. 

He ends up on the roof.  The water towers are new, just like the hospital is, but Kakashi is still thrown back to that night, almost seven years ago now.  He’d thought what he’d done had been enough.  He’d thought Sasuke would know better than to leave—but even if Sasuke had refused to go, he would have been taken.  Kakashi wasn’t there to protect him.  No one was.

He sits for a while, looking up at the moon and enjoying the breeze, cool, but not too cool now that he can finally regulate his body temperature again.  Eventually, he feels another presence slip onto the roof.  His guards tense, but Kakashi waves them down.  If Sasuke was going to hurt him, he would’ve done it already.

Sasuke moves to sit silently beside him, his expression unreadable.  Kakashi waits.

“Been a while,” Sasuke says, eventually.  “Since I was here.”

After the war, Sasuke had just—disappeared.  He’d taken off before they’d even made it back to Konoha, just slipped out of the medical tent and left without even being noticed by the guards.  Kakashi still wonders what happened when he’d fought with Naruto.  They’d come back together, tearstained and bloody, and Sasuke hadn’t spoken a word. 

Kakashi hadn’t really expected to see him again, after that.  All Naruto had said about the matter was that he’d promised to let Sasuke go, in the end.

“I hear you’re staying in Naruto’s apartment,” Kakashi says.

Sasuke nods. 

It’s quiet for a while, not much sound beyond the buzzing of generators and the occasional twitch from one of his guards.  Surprisingly, it’s Sasuke who breaks the silence between them.

“I can’t stay here,” he says, voice harsh, like he has to force the words out.  “Not even for Naruto.”

Kakashi doesn’t pry, but he knows there’s something, at least, between them.  Sasuke and Naruto are on a different level from other shinobi, more like gods than ninja.  It makes sense that they’d gravitate towards each other now—but then again, they’ve always been like this. 

It’s startling, really, how much Kakashi wants them to have this.  How much he wants them to be happy.   

“He could come with you,” Kakashi offers.  “Konoha can get by without him.”

Sasuke doesn’t answer.  Kakashi turns towards him, takes a moment to study his profile.  Sasuke is eighteen, and finally growing into himself.  His jaw is stronger, firmer.  His Rinnegan is sharply obvious even under the dim lights on the roof.

He’s calmer, now.  The anger isn’t gone, not really, but it’s not overwhelming, not like before.  Once, Kakashi thought the kindest thing he could do for Sasuke was to kill him. 

“I wasn’t expecting a rescue,” he tells Sasuke. 

Sasuke shrugs.

“I wouldn’t have expected you to come, either,” Kakashi presses.

There’s a long, drawn out pause, and Kakashi thinks he may have to change the subject after all.  But eventually, Sasuke opens his mouth to speak.

“You didn’t come for me,” he says, and his voice is so carefully blank that it hurts to hear.

Kakashi looks at his hands.  It’s true.  He never did come for Sasuke.  He took Naruto home and he didn’t go back, even though he knew Sasuke couldn’t come back on his own.  Even though he knew what Orochimaru would do to him.  

Sasuke had been a child.  Brilliant, maybe, and talented, but still a child.  A genin, with field experience measured in months rather than years. 

“I should have,” Kakashi says. 

Sasuke takes a deep breath, lets it out slowly.  “No.  I wouldn’t have come back.”

“I could’ve made you,” Kakashi points out.

Sasuke shakes his head.  He’s probably right—Kakashi couldn’t really have made him.  He couldn’t have taken Orochimaru, certainly not in one of his own bases, and surrounded by his best shinobi.  But Kakashi could have come anyway, could have tried to sneak Sasuke out, could have given him a chance to escape. 

He could have, but he didn’t. 

“You weren’t always a great teacher,” Sasuke says.  “But I did learn from you.  I came for you because Naruto cares about you, and because you are the Hokage.”  He stands up.  “I hate this village.  I thought, before, that I wouldn’t rest until I’d seen it destroyed, but Naruto… I want there to be peace, too.  Naruto thinks he can find a different way.”

Kakashi stands up, too.  He doesn’t look at Sasuke’s face, but he does rest his hand on his shoulder.  He squeezes, briefly.

“Naruto does have a pretty good track record with that kind of thing,” Kakashi tells him. “I think we’re all hoping that he’ll come through.”

Sasuke lets out a little huff.  “Yeah.”

When Kakashi died facing Pein, he saw his father again.  Kakashi thinks of that now, thinks of seeing a smile on his father’s face for the first time in a long time.  Thinks of finding his father sprawled out in his study, and how much smaller his body had looked, in death.  

“I want you to be happy,” he tells Sasuke.  Sasuke jerks back, frowning at him.  He looks so suspicious that Kakashi can’t help but laugh.

“I do,” he tells him.  “You can be, you know.  You should talk to Naruto.”

Sasuke makes a noise that might have been an agreement.

Kakashi takes pity on him.  “Okay, okay.  Shoo,” he waves Sasuke away.  “Some of us are no longer in the Springtime of our Youth and need to sleep at night.”

Sasuke gives him a disparaging look that Kakashi recognizes from his genin days.  Technically, Sasuke is still a genin.  Kakashi makes a mental note to taunt Sasuke about it another time.

Sasuke leaves without saying anything else, and Kakashi stretches out, using his chakra to keep his balance.  It’s unnecessary, but it feels good to actually use his chakra after nearly two months without it.  He starts to walk down the side of the building, looking forward to sleeping in his own bed, when Tenzou’s face pops up in front of him.  Well, his mask does, at least.

“Your room is on the other side of the hospital,” Tenzou says. 

Kakashi smiles at him, scrunching up his eyes.  “Maa, my cute little kouhai.” He pats Tenzou on his head.  “That’s where you’re wrong, Tenzou.  See, my room is this way.”         

“It’s Yamato now,” he whines, “and you have to go back to the hospital! Sakura’s going to kill me.  And you!” 

Kakashi keeps walking, ignoring Tenzou’s protests.  Eventually, Tenzou gives up, and signals at one of the other ANBU following him, who takes off.  Presumably to go tattle on him to Sakura.  Kakashi walks a little faster. 

It isn’t Sakura who catches up to him, though; it’s Ino. 

“If you’re up and about, you’re ready for a complete debriefing,” she tells him, getting straight to business.  “My place or yours?”

Kakashi had spoken to Ino in the hospital, telling her everything he remembered, but she hasn’t been in his head yet.  That's clearly on the agenda now.  Ino has stepped into her father’s shoes just as steadily and competently as Shikamaru has.  It's strange to realize that the two of them are—adults.  Kakashi really is getting old.

“Mine,” he tells her, not really wanting her in his apartment, but not wanting to go down to interrogation, either. 

When they make it back to his apartment, though, it’s empty.  No furniture, not even tatami on the floor.  Kakashi narrows his eyes.  _Gai._ Or possibly Sakura. 

Ino laughs, obviously surprised.  “Looks like you’ve moved, Kakashi-sensei.” 

Kakashi doesn’t say anything.  It must have been Gai. He’d admitted to breaking in to his apartment to grab Kakashi’s books.  But surely Gai would have said something, even if just by accident.  He's a horrible secret-keeper; it's the eyebrows.

“Well, do you want to try the Hokage’s residence?  Or go back to the hospital?”

Kakashi picks the lesser of two evils.  “Hospital.”

Kakashi can hear Tenzou giggling the whole way back to the hospital, the smug little bastard.  Grimly, Kakashi starts planning his revenge, but he doesn’t get far.  By the time they get back to the hospital, Kakashi’s entire being is focused on putting one foot in front of the other.  He’s too exhausted to even climb back into his hospital room.  He has to go in through the front door. 

Having Ino in his head is both better and worse than letting Inoichi in there.  At least Ino doesn’t make any pointed remarks about therapy afterwards, but it’s strange having her rifling through his memories, her presence uncomfortable and impossible to ignore.  He has to focus completely on not instinctively pushing her out.  Ino disengages, looking worried, and Kakashi curls up in bed, groaning at the sudden, blinding headache. 

“This might be worse than we thought,” she tells him.  “I’m going to call in Shikamaru.  Do you want us to fill you in when you get up, or do you want to try and stay awake for it now?” 

“Give me a summary now and tell me the rest in the morning,” he manages.

“Well, the good news is that I don’t think they were actually trying to extract anything specific out of your head,” she says. “They were just taking what they could get, and it doesn’t look like any really sensitive information has been compromised.  They did get all your codes and the patrol schedules, but we obviously changed those as soon as you went missing.”

“What’s the bad news, then?”

“They weren’t trying get information from you, they were just trying to break down your mental walls with a brute force assault.  With the kind of force they were using, if they’d succeeded, any information they might have gotten would have been destroyed—you would’ve been a vegetable, and they wouldn’t be _able_ to get any intelligence out of you.  And if they didn’t care about that, then that means they were trying to do that _on purpose._ ROOT was trying to kick you out of your own head, Kakashi-sama.” 

The unspoken conclusion, of course, is that there must have been a reason why, must have been some sort of goal to breaking Kakashi down and then wiping him out, but still leaving his body alive. 

Kakashi just sighs.   This is the problem with being Hokage.  All paperwork, no field missions, and when you do manage to get out for a little bit, it’s all kidnapping and mindwipes. 

           

When Kakashi wakes up in the morning—afternoon, if he’s being honest—he’s immediately dragged into a shielded room in the Hokage’s tower by Sakura, where a little war council has sprung up.  Sasuke has somehow managed to get himself invited, and is glowering in the corner next to Naruto.  Tsunade is also present, despite her regular protests at being involved in any Hokage-related business.

Shikamaru gives Kakashi a little nod as he comes in.  “Hokage-sama.” 

Ino is less reserved.  “You won’t believe this, Kakashi-sama. This _asshole_ ,” she gestured to Sasuke, “apparently found out weeks ago that ROOT is trying to _resurrect Danzou_. And,” her voice rising, “he also knows that Orochimaru was sharing the results of his resurrection experiments with Danzou, which, I might add, were successful, _and_ he saw evidence of the technique in the labs he destroyed!”

Sakura whirls on Sasuke; this is obviously news to her.  “Why didn’t you tell anyone?” she cries.  “Kakashi-sensei has been back for weeks!” 

Sasuke shrugs.  “I told Naruto.”

“Yeah, _this morning,_ ” Ino interjects.

Sasuke’s face doesn’t change at all.  If there’s one thing you can say about Sasuke, it’s that he commits to his decisions. 

“Well, we know now,” Shikamaru says, getting straight to the point as always.  “What we need to decide is what to do about it.  Based on what we know, it sounds like ROOT was trying to resurrect Danzou into Kakashi’s body, presumably to be able to insert him as Hokage.  Sasuke, does this sound possible to you?”

Sasuke doesn’t say anything.  Naruto elbows him.  “Come on, Sasuke, what do you think?”

Sasuke grunts.  “Probably.  Orochimaru would know.” 

Kakashi does not want to ask Orochimaru.  He probably would know, but it also might give him ideas.  Their peace with Orochimaru is tentative at best; Sasuke is the only one keeping him in line, and honestly, no one else is really sure how to kill him.  The man just won’t stay dead.

“Let’s avoid asking Orochimaru,” Shikamaru decides, voicing what everyone else was thinking, “and operate on the assumption that it is possible.  This isn’t an option we can leave on the table for them.”  He turns to address Kakashi.  “We already sent a team out to the ROOT base where you were held, Hokage-sama, but unfortunately the evidence—and all of your captors—were destroyed in the fire Sasuke cast.  It was still burning when our team arrived.”

More glares are directed at Sasuke, who doesn’t seem to notice.

“It’s possible that this was a last-ditch effort,” Shikamaru says.  “Resurrecting their dead leader into the current Hokage doesn’t sound like a well thought out spec ops plan.  But we can’t ignore the fact that they had the resources to kidnap our Hokage on his own turf.”

Tsunade nods. “I’d agree with that analysis, Shikamaru.  Kakashi, I hate to say it, but I think that all we can do at this stage is put ANBU on it and wait to act until we have more intelligence.”       

Kakashi nods, unsurprised.  “For now, then, we need to focus on finding any ROOT cells still operating, and confirming that no agents escaped from the base Sasuke destroyed.  Tenzou,” Kakashi addresses the shadow lurking in the window, “I want you to assemble the team for this.”

Tenzou salutes him with two fingers, melting back into his hiding spot.       

Naruto is obviously displeased with this plan.  “We need to find these jerks, Kaka-sensei!  What if they get you again?” 

“That’s what we’re trying to do, stupid,” Sakura explains.  “If ANBU finds them, then we’ll go after them.  We can’t do anything until we know where they are and what they’re doing.” 

“Unless Sasuke has any more vital intelligence he’s been withholding,” Ino says, giving Sasuke a pointed look.

Sasuke stands.  “If Danzou is resurrected, I’ll kill him again,” he announces, then uses the Rinnegan to literally shift out of the room.   Naruto goes running after him, and Kakashi resists the urge to drag his hands down his face, exasperated.   If nothing else, Sasuke has clearly perfected his sense of dramatic timing. 

Predictably, the meeting only devolves from there.  Kakashi sits through a full hour of pointless rehashing and the assignment of several additional guards to his protection detail.  Tenzou is put in charge of that, too, and dragged into the meeting, leaving Kakashi a priceless opportunity to escape his guard entirely.  He wonders how long it will take them to notice that he’s left a log sitting in his chair.        

He spends a little time just wandering around with a book covering his face, enjoying the freedom and the fresh air.  But he finds himself drawn by Naruto and Sasuke’s outrageous chakra signatures, all the way to Naruto’s apartment, across town from the hospital.

Kakashi summons Pakkun. The burst of chakra running through him feels fantastic, like he’s actually getting a complete breath in for the first time in months.  

“Yo, boss,” Pakkun says.  “Been a little while.”

“Yeah,” Kakashi tells him.  “Got kidnapped.”

Pakkun nods, and leans up against Kakashi to get scratched behind his ears. 

“Got a mission for me?” he asks, after a little while.

Kakashi grins.  “A little one.  I need you to play lookout while I spy on my wayward student.  Keep an eye out for Gai for me?  And my guards.”

Pakkun nods, mission accepted, and Kakashi creeps up onto the roof directly across from Naruto’s apartment, giving him a perfect view through Naruto’s bedroom window, which is cracked open. The bedroom is empty right now, but Kakashi’s been in Naruto’s apartment.  There’s essentially a kitchen with a couch in it, a bathroom, and the bedroom.  They’ll end up in there eventually. 

Kakashi relaxes into the warm tiles of the roof, enjoying the heat from the terra cotta, and the sun overhead.  He sees an ANBU dart past, probably hunting for him, but he doesn’t move.  Kakashi knows all the tricks.  They’ll find him when he’s ready to be found.

His stuff is probably still in the Hokage’s residence.  Kakashi doesn’t want to move there, doesn’t want to live locked up and shielded away.  He likes the quiet hum of the other apartments around him, the easy window entrance, the tiny studio layout, with no nooks and crannies for other shinobi to hide in. 

His shoulder aches, and Kakashi has to keep himself from rubbing at it and potentially giving himself away.  They’ve probably got Gai hunting for him, now, so it’s only a matter of time before he’s discovered.  Still, no need to make it any easier for them.  And he really does want to see what Sasuke will do.

Kakashi casts an eavesdropping jutsu, taking advantage of the open window, and opens up Icha Icha Violence.

He wakes to the familiar sound of Sasuke and Naruto arguing, and almost falls off the roof before he realizes that he’d fallen asleep and remembers what he was doing.  

“You know why I can’t stay here,” Sasuke is spitting out, and Kakashi gets situated so he can see him through the window.  Sasuke is practically backed up into a corner. 

“I know,” Naruto is pleading, “I know, but things are different now, and if you would just—”

“No!”  Even from his place on the roof, Kakashi can see Sasuke’s eyes swirling red and angry.  “No.  I’m not doing this again with you, Naruto!  I already promised you to leave this fucking village alone, and that’s it, that’s all you’re getting from me.”

“But you saved Kakashi, you came back, and you’ve been gone for _years,_ Sasuke.”  Naruto is creeping closer, and Sasuke is all the way against the wall, looking about as mad as Kakashi’s ever seen him.   

“Please,” Naruto says, “if you’d just give it a chance—”

Sasuke actually _shrieks_ in rage, and he pushes off from against the wall to throw himself at Naruto.  Naruto dodges the punch to the face, but he can’t avoid the tackle.  He rolls them over, getting Sasuke underneath him, but Sasuke throws him off, tossing Naruto through the bedroom wall. 

He stands up, fists clenched, and Naruto comes running back in, covered in plaster and white as a ghost. 

“What the fuck, Sasuke!”  Naruto yells.  “Why are you attacking me?”

“Why won’t you just leave me alone?” Sasuke chokes out.  Kakashi can’t tell if he’s angry or just upset.  “I don’t understand.” 

“Because I fucking love you, you bastard!  And you keep running away!”

Sasuke just stands there.  Kakashi can’t see his face, but he desperately wants to.   

“I know you do too, but you won’t do anything about it!” Naruto is yelling. “Sakura says you’re just emotionally constipated and to be patient.  And I’ve been patient!  I’ve been patient for two years! The war is over! Everyone you wanted to kill is dead! What else are you even waiting for?”

Sasuke still isn’t saying anything, or moving at all.   Naruto growls at him, a real growl, the kind of inhuman noise that only comes out when the Nine-tails is rising to the surface, and sure enough, red, wispy chakra trails are taking shape around Naruto’s body.  Kakashi reaches for a weapon, his body automatically responding to a potential fight.

Just as quickly as it started, though, the transformation stops.  Naruto shakes his head, hard, and pushes Sasuke across the room and onto the bed.  Kakashi can see Sasuke’s face, now, his eyes wide and shocked. 

Naruto starts yanking clothes off, tossing his shirt haphazardly across the room before he starts on Sasuke’s.  Sasuke finally hops into action, pulling his undershirt over his head immediately after Naruto wrestles that stupid poncho off of him. 

Kakashi can’t help it, he lays back on the roof and just starts laughing.  By the time he turns back, Naruto is covering Sasuke’s body with his own, his hand cradling the back of Sasuke’s head, holding Sasuke’s face against his shoulder.  His other hand is clearly working Sasuke’s dick, and Kakashi listens as Sasuke cuts off a groan.    

Kakashi knows he should leave, or at least look away, but Kakashi has been a shinobi for a long time.  He’s done worse things.  Watching his former students have sex doesn’t even make the top fifty. 

Naruto is kissing Sasuke, sloppy and breathless, and he keeps breaking away to whisper into Sasuke’s ear.  Kakashi can’t make out what he’s saying, but Sasuke is flushed bright red. He tells Naruto to shut up, but he doesn’t try to get away.  

Unfortunately, Kakashi gets distracted by the show and quits masking his chakra signature.  Gai finds him just as the going gets good, Naruto pressing Sasuke flat against the bed as he rocks himself down onto Sasuke’s dick.  He’s got a hand pressing Sasuke’s bangs back from his forehead, and he’s laughing, even though Kakashi can hear the hitch in his breath that means he’s crying, too.  Sasuke looks murderous, but he’s clutching Naruto just as tightly.

Gai coughs loudly when Kakashi doesn’t acknowledge him popping out of the roof access hatch, then dragging his wheelchair up after him.  “The passionate flowering of their love is indeed inspirational, Kakashi, but it is inappropriate to watch uninvited.” 

Kakashi cuts the eavesdropping jutsu.  He raises an eyebrow at Gai. “How do you know I wasn’t invited?”   

Gai frowns heavily, two judgmental eyebrows aimed directly at Kakashi.  He puts his hands on his hips and puffs himself up for a speech. 

“Maa, I know, I know, no spying on the passionate flowering.  Let’s get out of here, then,” Kakashi says, getting up, and hopefully interrupting the lecture.  “But you’re going to have to make it up to me.” 

He looks down at Pakkun, who trots over, not looking at all guilty about his substandard lookout job. “I was enjoying that, you know.”

“Gai is just too sneaky for me,” Pakkun says, dryly. 

Kakashi laughs and dismisses Pakkun, who disappears in a little puff of smoke.

“You must have worked up an appetite, Rival,” Gai says.  “Your guards have been diligently searching for you all day. How would you like to return to my apartment and enjoy a delicious, hearty curry?”

“Hmm,” Kakashi pretends to consider it.  “I think I’m in the mood for sushi, actually.  But maybe we shouldn’t—I’m sure you couldn’t possibly eat more sushi than I can. I wouldn’t want to show you up.” 

Gai puffs up.  “Why, Kakashi,” he starts, offended, “you must know that I have a voracious appetite, and while you may certainly pose a challenge, Rival, I will surely best you in any eating competition.” 

“I don’t know, Gai, I’m awfully hungry…”

“We shall put it to the test!  Another challenge to add to our competition, dear Rival.  And I will defeat you with one arm tied behind my back, or I will run around this village a hundred times before sundown—on my hands!”   

Gai takes off, and Kakashi saunters behind.  He doesn’t try to stop the smile stretching across his face.  It’s good to be home.

 

Gai does win the challenge.  He wants a rematch, of course, but Kakashi talks him into coming to sit on Minato-sensei’s head instead.  It’s not easy to get a wheelchair up there, but it’s not easy to get a wheelchair on a roof, either, and that didn’t stop Gai earlier.  Kakashi perches on the edge, overlooking the city, and Gai picks himself out of the wheelchair to plop down next to him.

“I’ll move into the Hokage’s place if you will, too,” Kakashi offers impulsively.  “But we’re having ramps put in.  There’s only so much wheelchair-carrying I can listen to.”

Gai gapes at him, then drags Kakashi into his arms, getting Kakashi’s hair wet with his giant, manly tears. 

“Of course, Rival!  I would be honored to share your abode.”  He squeezes Kakashi closer, then holds him out so he can see his face.  “I do have a confession to make to you,” Gai says, seriously.  “Sakura confided in me today, that after I had broken into your apartment to retrieve your books, she took advantage of the broken wards to have your things moved into the Hokage’s residence.” 

Kakashi doesn’t say anything, and Gai hurries on.  “Of course, Rival, we can have your things moved back into your apartment, and then move them back into the Hokage’s residence.  Together!”

Kakashi loses his game face, and laughs.  “How about we just move your stuff in,” he says.  “I think I’ve already lost the battle to keep my own apartment.”

Gai beams.  A little awkwardly, Kakashi pulls down his mask.  Gai has seen it before, but Kakashi hates the feeling of having it off, even when he’s alone.  Gai beams even wider, but before he can say anything, Kakashi leans in to kiss him. 

Gai responds enthusiastically, immediately pressing Kakashi into the ground and throwing himself on top of him as he returns the kiss.  Kakashi’s face is getting wet, and of course, of course Gai is crying again—Gai leans back for air, and to wipe his eyes, unashamed.  Gai is never ashamed.  If he’d found Kakashi in that cave, he wouldn’t have been ashamed, not for either of them.  Not even if Kakashi threw up on him like he did on Sasuke.      

Here’s the truth: it can take a long time to be happy.  Longer than some people have.  But Kakashi has had enough time, now, and he’s ready.  He pulls Gai back toward him, and it feels like something has been loose inside of Kakashi all this time, and has only just settled into place. 

Gai is getting slobber everywhere, but Kakashi lets him, just twists his fingers into Gai’s ridiculous bowl cut and lets Gai’s big hands wrap warm and huge around his waist.  It feels amazing, and Kakashi presses against him, trying to feel the heat of him against every inch of his body.  

Kakashi thinks of Naruto, crying and laughing with Sasuke.  He’s not the type for hysterics, but he understands the feeling.

“You know, Gai,” he murmurs, breaking away from the kiss.  

Gai leans back a little to look at him, his stupid bangs thick and sweaty and plastered to his forehead. 

“There’s this scene, in Icha Icha Tactics…”

Gai laughs heartily, and kisses him again before speaking.  “Rival, I will be happy to re-enact your fantasies after I have successfully wooed you,” he tells him. “I am looking forward to that day with immense pleasure and anticipation.”

“You’ve already wooed me!” Kakashi says.  “We’re moving in together. We’re making out on Hokage mountain. It’s a done deal!”  

“We’ve only had one date!” Gai says.  “Our sushi-eating competition was amazing, and incredibly romantic, but I would never besmirch your honor in such a way.” 

Kakashi’s honor has already been thoroughly besmirched, by a variety of partners and in a wide selection of positions and locations, but he knows better than to say that to Gai. 

“Maa, Gai, we’ve been on a thousand dates!  How many challenges have we had now?” 

Gai looks overwhelmed.  “Have I been wooing you this entire time?” he asks, shocked.

“Isn’t that what you meant to do?”

Gai frowns, thoughtful.  “I thought our challenges were meant in the spirit of friendly competition, and also as a constant challenge to better ourselves as men, and as shinobi!”

“Well, that too,” Kakashi says.  “But I also got wooed.  You must be more romantic that you thought, Gai.  How could I resist?”

Gai drags Kakashi close again, but he doesn’t start anything else.  After a moment, he leans in seriously.  “Kakashi, have you truly been nursing tender and passionate feelings for me over the course of our rivalry?”

Kakashi opens his mouth to say yes, which is close enough to the truth, but something stops him.  Kakashi doesn’t—he doesn’t know.

“Gai,” he starts again.  “I don’t know.”

Gai thinks about that, and then nods decisively.  “Well, Rival, if neither of us knows, and I’ve wooed you without our knowledge, then we must take time to water and tend the delicate blooms of our love.” 

“Gai, you can’t tell someone you love them on the first date!”

Gai laughs and kisses Kakashi again, and they roll around on the ground a little bit, getting dirt all over Kakashi’s nice white robe, and leaving Gai’s hair standing up straight in places, with little twigs and leaves all in it.  Despite Kakashi’s careful maneuvering, Gai still refuses to go any further than making out like teenagers, and Kakashi eventually gives up and lets him do what he wants.

They end up laid flat on their backs, looking up at the stars.  Kakashi has his mask back on, but Gai keeps sneaking glances at him anyway, grinning wider every time.  He’s squeezing Kakashi’s hand almost hard enough to hurt.

Tomorrow, they’ll have to start the search for ROOT.  Kakashi is probably going to have to tell Naruto to go with Sasuke, because the kid is dense, and Sasuke obviously isn’t going to ask himself.  He’s going to have to catch up on the mountain of paperwork that has to be sitting in his office. 

But for today, he tells Tenzou to come out of the trees and quit spying on them already, laughing at Gai, who turns bright red from the tip of his ears all the way down to his jumpsuit.  

“That was gross, senpai,” Tenzou complains.  “I don’t think I can respect you now.”

Gai jerks up to defend Kakashi’s honor, but Kakashi waves him down.  “That’s okay, Tenzou.  You’re young, you’ll learn about the birds and the bees eventually.  I know just the book to start with.” 

Tenzou starts to protest just as Gai loses the battle to keep quiet. Still feeling warm and pleasantly flushed from earlier, Kakashi lays back and just lets the sound wash over him.  This, he realizes, is why Sarutobi took him off infiltration as a child, and why he pulled him out of ANBU to babysit genin.  Not because Kakashi couldn’t handle it, but because he _was_ handling it, and would have kept on handling it for as long as he was allowed to.  Because to do that, Kakashi would have had to give up—this.          

Kakashi performs a jutsu that lets him see in the dark, and pulls out Icha Icha Tactics.  It’s a little late, but he’s finally learning to respect his elders.  He can only hope that Sasuke does the same.                            

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!! Let me know what you thought--all feedback is appreciated :)


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